Kisumu county government has banned its staff from using Safarilink Aviation Limited over what they term as their exploitative charges.
Through a memo by county secretary John Auma on February 13, he said that the directive is part of a new severity measure to manage expenses and evade wastage of assets.
“It has been decided that the County Government of Kisumu staff travelling on official duty by air should cease to use Safarilink airline due to their exploitative charges,” Auma said.
“The directive takes effect immediately”
This comes after Kisumu governor Anyang’ Nyong’o complained about being charged Sh19,000 for a one-way flight from Nairobi to Kisumu instead of Sh5,500 and Sh7,000.
“I called one of the managers and protested. But since I had to travel for an urgent meeting in Kisumu, we paid the Sh19,000,” said Nyongo.
“Why is Safarilink engaged in this rip-off of its passengers in a bid to collect obscene profits from the gullible public? Do we have a consumer protection organization to act against this kind of rip-off?”
Nevertheless, Safarilink management said that the comments by Anyang’ Nyong’o were unfortunate and hit at the Professor for failing to know the adjustments of the company.
“We appreciate your and the Kisumu County government’s loyalty to Safarilink over the years. We, in turn, have supported Kisumu County in various ways with sponsorships towards various projects and you personally when we have held back flights when you were running late,” they said.
